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С Днем Победы! Happy Victory Day!

Update (May 9, 2022) Yesterday (May 8th), the world celebrated Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, marking the end of World War II in Europe.  Celebrated somberly, as the war cost the lives of millions, nearly total destruction, and unimaginable human suffering across the continent and beyond. Today (May 9th), Russian Federation will celebrate its Victory Day.  I refuse to believe that two of my grandpas (along with many other relatives) fought and one perished in that war so that in 2022 Russian Federation can wage aggressive, criminal, totally senseless war in Ukraine!  С Днём Победы!  (May 9, 2013) There's really nothing else to say... (May 9, 2013) I will go home tonight, have a drink, and remember my grandpa Meyer who was killed in action in a Battle of Kursk and my grandpa Andrey who fought all the way to Berlin . I will think of countless lives lost during  WWII   and reflect on life, family, friends... and maybe have another drink... that's all...

The Lean Startup

"It builds on many previous management and product development ideas, including lean manufacturing, design thinking, customer development, and agile development. It represents a new approach to creating continuous innovation. It’s called the Lean Startup." Overall, I found " The Lean Startup " to be informative and instructive, but while I picked up on many interesting concepts, such as: b uild-measure-learn feedback loops, m inimum viable products (MVP), different  engines of growth,  cohort-based metrics, split-test experiments, etc.; many of those concepts weren't new to me at all (I accidentally discovered that I've been using them for some time; obviously, without having any idea that they were associated with or related to the Lean Startup). Nonetheless, reading about something known (or semi-known) often opens new dimensions, exposes different points of view, and helps with bringing things into focus as well as rationalizing and amalgamatin

Another great Mexican vacation!

Another relaxing Mexican vacation, this time with the entire family (loved having both kids with us)! Once again we stayed at a pretty good resort Now Sapphire . It's a relatively small, but cozy place with a white sand beach, buffets, a number of themed restaurants, bars, swimming pools, and a few entertainment options. Here are a few shots of the facilities and other assorted pics:          

Autumn 2012 at the Great Falls Park

Great time and lots of fun with friends and family - first, at the  Normandie Farm  for an awesome brunch, then onto a brief walk at the  Washington, D.C. Great Falls Park      

Happy Veterans Day!

The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

" In the long run, history is the story of information becoming aware of itself. " The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick - t his was not an easy read for me, I spent more time on this book than on two before and two after (all of comparable volume) combined. And I am not exactly sure why. I guess it could be the style, the vocabulary, the depth and the breadth of the subject matter  coverage , or all of these and few other things put together.  But I feel like it was well worth the effort. The story flows smoothly from the talking drums of Africa to the  world of oral culture;  to the invention of scripts and alphabets; to evolution of languages, books, catalogs and dictionaries; to  further developments of abstraction,  symbolic logic,  and mathematics; to  the birth of computer science, communications theory , information theory, quantum theory, ... I don't think I can right a review that will do this book justice. So, I would simply s